Abridged Life Tables for Registered Indians in Canada, 1976-1980 to 1996-2000

Ravi V. P. Verma, Margaret Michalowski, R. Pierre Gauvin

Abstract

This paper presents the analyses of the new estimates of abridged life tables
comprising life expectancy at birth, and their estimates of variance and
confidence limits by males and females for Registered Indians in Canada and
two broad regions (East: Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba; and West:
Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories) for
the periods, 1976-80, 1981-1985, 1986-1990, 1991-1995 and 1996-2000. The
life tables were constructed using the Chiang Method based on the adjusted data on deaths and population by age and sex from the Indian Registry, maintained by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Government of Canada. The data on the register are subjected to late reported and non reported vital events. At the Canada level, life expectancy at birth for Registered Indian males was 59.9 years in 1976-1980, rising to 68.3 years in 1996-2000. For females, the life expectancy at birth was relatively higher, 66.6 years in 1976-80, and 74.5 years in 1996-2000. The recent life expectancies at birth for Registered Indians are comparable to those observed for the total Canadian male and female populations during the period 1960-1962 at 68.4 and 74.3 years. In 1999, life expectancy at birth for the total Canadian population was reported to be 76.3 years for males and 81.7 years for females. The life expectancy at birth for the Registered Indians in the Eastern region was higher than for those in the Western region. The pattern of regional variation in life expectancy at birth for this population seems to be the reverse of the regional variation for the total Canadian population.